The Superior High School football team recorded one of its biggest victories in recent history with a 35-28 win over the Hudson Raiders Friday night before a crowd of more than 2,000 at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.
The Raiders entered the game with four straight wins over Superior, 17 straight wins in the Big Rivers Conference and a No. 3 raking in the state.
That didn’t seem to bother the Spartans as they played toe-to-toe with the Raiders and eventually won the conference opener for both teams.
“This feels great,” SHS coach Bob DeMeyer said. “Every kid on the team has a smile on their face and is having fun. They deserve it, they paid the price and worked hard.”
Hudson opened the season with wins over Minnetonka (27-24) and Chanhassen (36-0).
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“Hudson has set the standard the past couple of years, but we told the kids we raised the bar a little bit with the effort, the execution and just the way they fought,” DeMeyer said. “Hudson’s an awesome football team, very classy and our kids raised their game another notch from last weekend. Our motto is ‘One team one fight,’ and we just kept on fighting.”
With the game tied 28-28 after three quarters, the Spartans scored the eventual winning touchdown 59 seconds into the fourth quarter when Beau Girard caught a pass from Nick Mehlum on the right sidelines, made a move around a Hudson defender, broke toward the middle of the field, got a huge block from Austin Arnovich at the 5-yard line and scored what turned out to be a 55-yard touchdown.
“That was the most fun of my life right there,” Girard said. “Without Austin’s block I wouldn’t have been in the end zone. I can’t thank my teammates enough. They made it happen. I just ran my heart out there. I did anything I could to get into the end zone.”
After McKenzie Schwarz kicked the extra point, Superior’s defense took over as Ross Kennelly intercepted a pass on Hudson’s next drive and teamed with Kyler Krob on back-to-back sacks the next time the Raiders had the ball.
“At halftime coach (Rob) Scott just told us to keep playing hard,” Kennelly said. “We emphasize flying to the ball and all of the guys bought into it. It was a blast out there, it’s a great feeling. We all had trust in each other and knew in the end we were going to come out with it.”
On his interception, Kennelly said it just kind of happened.
“They were driving and I just did my job,” Kennelly said. “I opened up to where the quarterback was facing and just read him. Luckily the ball came my way, I batted it and was able to come down with it.”
Superior’s offense then ate about three minutes off the clock before the Raiders had one last chance with the ball on the 36-yard line with 1:33 remaining.
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A pass for a loss of a yard was followed by another Kennelly sack and then an interception by Girard with 53.1 seconds left.
Superior finished the game with Mehlum kneeling down for two plays.
Superior improves to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the BRC with the win.
“We had a ton of great plays, on offense and defense,” DeMeyer said. “It was a team win; every one of the kids fought like crazy, even the kids on the sidelines had a role in the win.
“Coach Scott deserves a ton of credit. There isn’t anybody that puts in more time and cares about these kids, even me. He had the defense prepared tonight. At the half they just went over what they worked on during the week and went out and did it.”
With both teams running no-huddle offenses, Hudson ran 68 plays and Superior 44. The Raiders had 412 total yards, including 365 on the ground, while the Spartans had 341 of their 457 yards through the air.
Mehlum was 16-of-24 passing for 341 yards and five touchdowns.
Jake Libal was his main target with seven catches for 183 yards, including touchdown catches of 38 and 94 yards. Girard added touchdown catches of 8 and 55 yards and Grant Hanson had the other touchdown from 8 yards out.
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On defense Kennelly had a monster game with 16 tackles, two sacks and an interception. He also led Superior in rushing with 49 yards on seven carries.
The Spartans also got 14 tackles from Jesse Polson and 12 more from Garrett Hobson.
Dayton Diemel led Hudson on the ground with 127 yards on 23 carries, and Uchytil was 4-of-12 passing for 47 yards.
After Superior ran three plays and punted on the game’s opening drive, Hudson put together a five-play, 51-yard drive that took just 1:16 and ended with a Diemel 11-yard touchdown run. Kristian Bell booted the extra point for a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
After a punt by each team, Superior tied the game up when Libal got behind the Hudson defense and hauled in a 38-yard touchdown pass from Mehlum. Schwarz kicked the extra point with 4:07 left in the first quarter.
Any momentum Superior had was quickly taken away as the Raiders put together a 12-play, 65-yard drive that ended with Braden Marvin running round the right end for a 5-yard score. Another Bell kick gave Hudson a 14-7 lead with 37.6 seconds left in the first quarter.
While neither team scored during the next seven minutes, 21 points were put on the board in the final 5:43 of the first half, starting with Girard catching an 8-yard touchdown pass. Schwarz’s kick tied the game at 14-14.
Hudson quickly regained a 21-14 lead when Nick Holm busted into the end zone from a yard out and Bell kicked the extra point. The six-play, 67-yard drive took just 1:25. The first play of the drive was a 34-yard run by Uchytil.
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Superior answered and tied the game 21-21 on Mehlum’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Hanson. Schwarz kicked the extra-point with 55:2 seconds left in the half.
Superior plays at Chippewa Falls at 7 p.m. Friday.
SPARTAN SPIN: The SHS DECA tailgate party raised $4,004.32 for the Northland Honor Flight program. … Superior’s Anthony Bronson won family bragging rights with cousin Yuri Bronson, a senior halfback on Hudson. … Uchytil is the son of John Uchytil, who was inducted into the Superior Athletic Hall of Fame last year. The elder Uchytil graduated from Cathedral High School and then later from UW-Superior. … Mehlum is fourth in Wisconsin with 797 yards passing and Libal is eighth in receiving yards with 337.
Hudson.................................... 14 7 7 0 -- 28
Superior.................................... 7 14 7 7 -- 35
First Quarter
H-Dayton Diemel 11-yard run (Kristian Bell kick), 9:04.
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SHS-Jake Libal 38-yard pass from Nick Mehlum (McKenzie Schwarz kick), 4:07.
H-Braden Marvin 5-yard run (Bell kick), 0:37.6.
Second Quarter
SHS-Beau Girard 8-yard pass from Mehlum (Schwarz kick), 5:43.
H-Nick Holm 1-yard run (Bell kick), 4:13.
SHS-Grant Hanson 7-yard pass from Mehlum (Schwarz kick), :55.2.
Third Quarter
SHS-Libal 94-yard pass from Mehlum (Schwarz kick), 6:38.
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H-Holm 2-yard run (Bell kick), 3:05.
Fourth Quarter
SHS-Girard 55-yard pass from Mehlum (Schwarz kick), 11:01.
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H SHS
First downs.............................. 20 13
Total Net Yards...................... 412 457
Rushes-yards........................ 56-365 28-116
Passing yards.......................... 47 341
Comp-Att-Int....................... 4-12-2 16-23-1
Punt Returns............................ 1-1 2-0
Kickoff Returns....................... 6-89 5-88
Sacks.......................................... 2 3
Punts...................................... 6-27.0 2-16.0
Fumbles-Lost.......................... 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards...................... 9-64 9-62
Time of Possession.............. 23:44 24:16
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Hudson, Dayton Diemel 23-127; John Uchytil 14-98; Braden Marvin 10-85; Stephen Tripiccho 1-19; Yuri Bronson 3-14; Nick Holm 4-13; Henrick Wiesmeyer 1-9. Superior Ross Kennelly 7-49; Jake Libal 3-25; Beau Girard 2-16; Mitch Anderson 4-15; Nick Mehlum 8-8; Grant Hanson 3-4; Beau Reder 1-(-1).
PASSING-Hudson, Uchytil 4-12-47. Superior, Mehlum 16-24-341.
RECEIVING-Hudson, Wiesmeyer 3-41. Bronson 1-6. Superior, Libal 7-183; Hanson 4-56; Anderson 2-35; Girard 2-63; McKenzie Schwarz 1-4.
Defense
Hudson
Jon Krier, 6; Bryce DuCharme, 6; Zander Motu, 6; Ryan Reiter, 6; Joe Sikulu, 3; Jake Neiderhauser, 3; Lucas Traynor, 3; Tim Holden, 3; Jack Koski, 2; Alex Richards, 2; Kristian Bell, 1; Wes Korum, 2; Reed Junco, 1; Miles Jensen, 1. Total 48.
Superior
Ross Kennelly................................................................. 16
Jesse Polson.................................................................. 14
Garrett Hobson............................................................. 12
Matt Hinaus.................................................................... 8
Beau Girard.................................................................... 7
Grant Hanson................................................................. 4
Beau Reder..................................................................... 3
Deshon Pleau................................................................. 3
Kyler Krob...................................................................... 3
Anthony Bronson........................................................... 2
Joey Miller...................................................................... 1
Colin Krysiak.................................................................. 1
